Hughes & Kettner Switchblade 100W Combo

I love the features of this amp they are very flexible. I love the tone of the amp the power and really everything about this amp except how heavy it is.

It sounds awesome everyone that has heard this amp is just amazed it what it can do!

I have had this amp for 9 months and have babied this amp. I am very careful how I transport the amp I even put a fan begind it when I am playing at gigs. But here recently the lights went out and it completly quit working. The tubes are still lit but there is no sound. So I took it in to the dealer I purchased it from and its been there three weeks because Hughes & kettners customer service sucks!!! This amp is still under warranty and I spent 1,500.00 on it and I cant even play it. The dealer is working very hard to resolve this problem but no one will communicate with him. And they sell alot of these amps. My opinion is if Hughes & Kettner doesnt get their act together they will get a bad rep and buisness will go down hill very fast!!!!!!

Worthless terrible doesnt exist. If you want an amp that will be backed by the builder dont buy from Hughes and Kettner!!!

100w Combo made in late 2006. Bought it early 07. 4 channels can be tweaked and assigned on any of the 128 midi channels. 4 EL34s, 2 12ax7s. has reverb, delay, chorus, flange, and tremelo. I've used it the past year for practice and gigging. Great portability having everything in one amp. Wish it had a tuner and expression pedals with a wah and volume. IMO it doesn't play well with added effects even when they're put in the efx loop? But my whole point of getting this amp was lugging around less gear.

Sounds pretty good. I have a Hughes and Kettner Triamp also and it has a similar voice although it lacks the depth and cut of the Triamp. Has a variety of great tones, If you like to tweak it's great.
The master volume gets too loud, too fast. I'll probably never be able to play it at the volume where it would crank. The reverb is awsome, I'd give it a 9, would swear it's spring but it's digital. can go from subtle to surf wet. The delay is pretty good, give it a 7. Chorus a 7 also. The flange is a little tinny, probably a 5, and the trem sounds more like a phaser, I'd give it a 3 or 4. I like the old vintage fender trem warmth.
The cleans are good and can spank or get bell like and tubby depending on how you tweak. The crunch channel is great, get classic rock to modern rock crunch without the fuzz. The lead and ultra channels get liquidy distortions and have some good sag but you're able to still hear each note. The high gain sounds are a bit noisy. Really is a decent do all amp. Jack of all trade, although master of none. Sound's much better than any line 6 modelling amp I've heard. Has the tube tone but lacks some of the balls.

The amps been pretty good. Blew a fuse once replaced it and has been fine since. Also one tube, I believe was goin when I bought it. It crapped out a few months after playing. I had it retubed and biased and it sounded much better afterwards. Much warmer. The footswitch did go bad recently and H&K is fixing it for free. The amp is great but the footswitch needs better wiring.

I know alot of people complain about manufacturers but I've always tried to be polite even when a bit miffed and most companies come through with the help. H&K has help me on several occassions even when my products were no longer under warranty. In my book they're a topnotch company that listens to us players.

I really want to like this amp. My other gigging amp is a H&K Triamp and it just has more depth and organic tone. Granted the switchblade can be had for less than half the price of a Triamp head. And I know alot of great guitarist love the switchblade and can sound better than and play circles around me. If it had some more oomph in the bass and cut through better playing live it'd be perfect. I actually really dig it for shredding, it doesn't mud up at all. If you play faster prog or want a more delayed type sound, Floyd or Rush, this amp will probably make you happy. Also having everything onboard is awsome. My back loves it. Needs a better volume knob and a way to cut the power to 25w or atleast 50w. this thing is too loud.
A great amp that make many players happy, play one and see if you like. Probably will make a lot of people happy, esp. if you could land one used at a decent price.

Amp was made in 2006

I play funk, hard rock, the occasional metal riff; lots of guitar solos in the vein of holdsworth, vai, satriani and van halen

4 channels

I use this amp for practice and for full-on gigging

Plenty of power; LOVE the FX (although I wish the amp was in stereo, but oh well)

Everything is top-notch on this amp; nothing on it I don't need

I use a modified PRS SE Soapbar II with a Dimarzio (Super Distortion) DP-209 (bridge position) and a Dimarzio Virtual P-90/DP-169 (neck position); prior to upgrading my pickups, I had the original soapbar, P-90s in there and it still sounded incredible thru the Switchblade - I needed a little more punch on my leads, so I swapped out the original P-90s with humbucks to beef up my leads........but even with single coils, the amp sounded SICK on both LEAD and ULTRA settings; simply delicious on the clean settings; This amp has no problem generating the same sort of rich, thick, tube-driven sustain that you'd need to replicate the Vai/Van Halen/Satriani-style, saturated, warm, distortion, or "brown" distortion so many shredders have used historically, or even Randy Rhodes' tone on the first two Ozzy records; by the same token, you can push the gain setting all the way up on the Ultra and get some great metal tones, although I cannot comment on "Nu Metal" tones as I could give a damn about those............but I'd say it approximates the tone Dimebag had on Vulgar Display Of Power - great tones to be sure.

The clean is AMAZING too......simply gorgeous, rich, present and in your face clean tones with punch.

The FX, while not quite as "set-able" as I'd generally like, are very well designed as is the reverb.

The MIDI floor pedal is simple and solid (provided you get one of the new models with a floor pedal that doesn't break)

The amp, like any high-gain, tube, amp, is noisy, but not any more so than any other amp I've used........I use a Keeley compressor and that adds quite a bit of noise on the gain channels......but a Hush unit can eliminate that.......otherwise, this amp is very quiet.

All in all, this amp sounds amazing in EVER application I need it for: amazing distortion; amazing clean tones; plenty of power for any standard, club or bar gig, and still packs punch beyond that.

I've only owned the amp a few weeks - no problems so far:)

2 year warranty.

clueless on the customer service department....hoping I'll never have to call them.

I've been playing 24 years and in my 35 years on the planet, have never played quite as amazing an amp; sure, it's a little pricey (paid $1500 brand new), but I also believe this amp will suit me fine for the next 20 years. It would be great if the flange and chorus were in stereo (especially since the sales guy SWORE it was), but that's a minor complaint compared to everything it does well. Tone is as much the player, as the guitar and the amp - and it is the perfect vehicle for great players. Period.

Everything you could want in an easily portable combo amp. To everyone who's griping about not having a tuner built in... it's an amp!!! I'd love it to make coffee but I'm not going to complain because it doesn't!

Effects are weak compared to the tweakability of a stand-alone stomp box or a rack processor, but then again, I for one, bought this amp so I wouldn't have to cary all that other crap around. The effects are plenty good for live gigs and maybe even light studio work.

LOUD!!! That's my only complaint. I wish it could be rolled down to a level where it could be used to practice on at home, but nooooooo! From 0 to about 1/2 on the master volume it sounds low and distant (like through a phone). As soon as you get near 1, it blows up. You can turn the channel volumes down independently and save the presets so you can at least get the m.v. close to 2 without loosing your hearing. This is one amp that doesn't need to go to 11.

Other than that, as most everyone agrees... clear is crystaline, crunch is just disrespectful enough to offend and the overdrive channels (lead & ultra) are filthy, dirty sound whores with sustain thick enough to walk on.

Don't know. Haven't had it long enough...

Been playing for... 27 years. Had all kinds of gear, from stacks and rack rigs costing thousands to a lowly Twin Reverb. This puppy just replaced my latest "dream rack" of mostly Mesa gear (Stereo 2:50 + Quad Preamp + 2101 effects + Recto 4x12 cabs).

It's a lot easier to transport and set up for the local gigs we do. There's more room on the stage to "perform" which is what the people are paying for in the first place.

Bottom line... I don't feel I've sacrifieced anything in terms of sound quality for my purposes. If I need to it do do something it can't do on its own, I just play with the mic and PA settings or add a pedal.

This is an extremely versatile amp! Finally, somebody came up with a fully programable tube amp with included effects and foot controller that sounds great! I give it a 9 because I would like it to have a tuner on board.

I am very impressed with the sound quality of this amp and the versatility of great sounds that are easily achieved from all 4 channels. There is a wide range of excellent sounds achievable from each of the 4 channels as well. For example, the clean channel can be set for pristine clean up to slight distortion, while the crunch channel can range from clean to a mean crunch to a nice lead sound depending upon the amount of gain, presence, and EQ settings. What makes it great, is that it is fully programable!

Unfortunately, I experienced a similar problem as "Joe" in the Switchblade Head review category. I have experienced problems where the "saved" sounds didn't take a few times. That was really more just of a nuisance than a real problem. However, the major problem I had was with the footcontroller. Initially, everything worked great, but recently the "C" button on the footcontroller mechanically stuck making the footcontroller unusable. The sounds are not saved to the amp itself, rather just to the foot controller. This is not a problem at all as long as the foot controller is reliable. There is no doubt in my mind that H&K will correct the problem, but for now I am convinced there is a problem with the foot controller based on my experience. The strangest thing is that it appears to be built solid, but I experienced a "mechanical" problem. I would have guessed an electrical problem would have been more likely due to the programmability of this tube amp. I am very disappointed in this because I love the amp and am looking forward to the day that H&K corrects this problem.

I left 2 messages at Pearl (USA H&K Distributor) asking for them to return my call to discuss my problem. It has been over a week and they have still not returned my call. Musician's Buy was very helpful and supportive to the problem.

Overall, I love the concept and sound of this amp. Once I am convinced that H&K has corrected the foot controller problem, I will probably buy it again. I have been a very happy and loyal Mesa guy for years (Mark IV, Road King, Lonestar Special) and still own these amps, but I prefer the programability and versatility of sounds that are easily achievable with the H&K Switchblade. I did return the amp for a refund because a replacement foot controller is not readily available. I believe the reason the ship dates from the online distributors keep slipping is because H&K realizes they have a problem and are working on correcting the problem.

Hand are too sore to retype the specs. See the H&K website.

My god. I am 45 now and just finding this. If you are a guitarist that has been searching for your tone (and I mean your own). Stop everything, get one of these. Your search just ended.

Simply incredible. And so loud. I am going to my friends warehouse to really check it out because I can't turn it on at home. And I live in a post Andrew concrete bomb shelter (hurricane) in Florida.

Clean is SO clean.
Crucnch is so crunch.
Lead and Ultra have all the gain anyone could imagine.

My js1000 split coil on the clean channel with some delay is SO amazing. I could fingure dissonant 2nds and 7ths all day and people would still listen in amazement.

Just bought it no comment.

Just bought it no comment.

I have been playing for 35 years and my tone search (35 years of it) just ended.

When I first started looking for a new amp, my goal was to find one with built in effects to eliminate having to use external effects pedals. I tried a modeling amp (VOX) which had great effects but was missing the warm tube sound. The Switchblade was just what I was looking for: a four channel all tube amp with programmable effects including chorus, flanger, delay, and tremelo (which is more like a rotary effect). The effects are great, the clean channel is sweet and the the overdrive can get as heavy as you could ever want. It's very easy to program too. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 for features is because it's missing some features that I think are important. For example, the foot switch doesn't have a volume pedal, it doesn't have a phaser or a wah effect, and there is no built in tuner. So I had to buy a wah/volume pedal and a tuner (which was what I was trying to eliminate in the first place). An even bigger dissappointment for me is the lack of a preamp output. There is an effects loop "send" but it is too hot to go into a mixing board. HK tried to help with a -10db button, but it's still too hot. I'm told the HK Red Box is the solution. I was shocked that they would make such a great amp with no preamp output.

This amp sounds awesome and is extremely loud. It has four channels: clean, crunch, lead, and ultra. The range of each is incredible. I sold my Peavey 5150 full stack (which I loved) to down size. The overdrive on this amp far surpasses that of the 5150. I have a couple of Peavey Wolfgangs (USA and Korean) and they sound better through this amp than through the 5150. I play mostly rock music from soft to hard, classic to alternative. I've only had this amp a few weeks so I have more tweaking to do, but I'm already extremely impressed.

I've only had the amp a few weeks so I can't rate it for reliablilty yet. I've had no problems so far. It seems like it's built like a tank.

I sent an e-mail regarding the lack of a preamp output and asked for a solution. Someone responded within two days and gave me a couple of options. Not bad.

I've been playing for about 30 years (never professionally). My back up amp is an old Peavey Renown twin 12 combo that I've had for 25 years and has never failed me. As mentioned earlier, I own a couple of Wolfgangs. I would definately buy another Switchblade if this one was stolen. I love the sound and versatility of this amp, but I am very dissapointed about the features it lacks, that in my opinion, should have been included (phaser, wah, volume pedal, tuner and a preamp output). I suppose HK had to draw the line somewhere. I wouldn't be surprized if the second generation Switchblade has some of these features added.

Before this combo I've been playing the TriAmp for some years, played with Bogners, Ernst Fliek, CAE, DrZ-amps, Rivera, Brunetti etcetera. And always with sick stacks, too heavy, too complex, a lot of wiring, never the perfect match with all the effectloops etc.

This amp DO HAS character! Every sound you play with is useful, it's like bringing 10 amps to a gig, but instead saving your back with a super compact combo with two 12" speakers. A resistant footcontroller, with midi. It has tights pumping low notes, screaming, jazzy, country-twang, 80's rock, 90's rock, everything! The effects are no TC Electronics (and that's a good thing, because those are very complex and not friendly for you on stage), but super useful in every setting. This amp invites you to play again and be inspired and challenged to learn. Especially when you are a rocker of countryguy. It's got a LOT of power, never heard a louder combo than this, NOT even a TWIN. Besides, that volume isn't too relevant, but you may need it some day. Wave the large cabinets and racks goodbye. If you want an allround amp with loads of sounds, don't try any modeling amp, first check this one. I'm sure it'll bring you heaven.

Every sound is unique! Clean is cool, the heavy distortion is MEAN! And all the sound in between are simply RELEVANT! Hendrix? Lukather, Van Halen, Henderson, Knopfler? Yep, got it all...

Just got it, it amazes me!

I know the H&K is very good for their client, a sure for those in Europe..

I wrote it before...